Tabulator arrangement for office machines



y 6, 1 e. ENGELHARDT 3,442,446

TABULATOR ARRANGEMENT FOR OFFICE MACHINES Filed Oct. 19. 1966 Sheet of s IN VEN TORI 2Llr 271/44 May 6, 1969 G. ENGELHARDT TABULATOR ARRANGEMENT FOR OFFICE MACHINES Filed Oct. 19. 1966 Sheet 2 ors INVEN TOR: Q24! Swami! y 6, 1969 G. ENGELHARDT 3,442,446

TABULATOR ARRANGEMENT FOR OFFICE MACHINES Filed Oct. 19. 1966 Sheet 5 of 3 IN VEN TOR: film 2,4441% United States Patent 3,442,446 TABULATOR ARRANGEMENT FOR OFFICE MACHINES Gunter Engelhardt, Gerstetten-Wurttemherg, Germany,

assiguor to Walther-Buromaschinen G.m.b.H., Gerstetten-Wurttemberg, Germany, a limited-liability company of Germany Filed Oct. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 587,740 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 20, 1965, W 40,142 Int. Cl. G06c 29/00 US. Cl. 235-605 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The movable carriage of an accounting machine is provided with a hollow control bar having a square crosssection with a pair of rows of transverse slots in each of the bar side walls. Control tabs are inserted in these slots with portions of the tabs protruding above the control bar and portions of the control tabs being within the control bar. A shaft passes through the hollow control bar along the length thereof and is provided in its peripheral surface with notches which engage the portions of the control tabs in the control bar to lock the tabs in position. The shaft may be rotated with respect to the bar to unlock the control tabs to permit their removal.

The present invention relates to a tabulator for controlling the movements of the carriage and the function of office machines such as typewriters, calculating machines or the like, more particularly, to such an arrangement wherein a tubular control bar is rotatably mounted on the carriage and carries removable control tabs which engage with function control levers on the machine to control the function thereof.

A common form of tabulator arrangement for automatically controlling the function of an ofiice machine essentially comprises a plurality of control plates which are arranged to define a tubular member known as a control bar or box. Each of the control plates is provided with several rows of transverse slots into which control tabs are inserted. The projecting portions of these control tabs are engageable by various levers on the machine to automatically regulate the movement of the carriage and for selecting the function or mode of operation of the machine. Such known arrangements of control plates are mounted on the carriage but extend reanwardly therefrom a considerable distance so as to be an inconvenience.

In addition the control tabs are engaged by the contact levers which are generally positioned behind one another in stepped formation. As a result, the control box must be unduly large and have such a large cross-sectional dimension that the overall size of the entire machine is greatly increased. The increased size of the machine necessitates a greater amount of space to be provided for the installation and subsequent operation of the machine.

In most such tabulator arrangements the control tabs are not locked in position and therefore frequently drop out of the control plates during the operation of the machine. This loosening and dropping out of the control tabs is generally caused by successive impacts against the carriage or as the result of rotating the control bar to position another control program into operational relationship with the contact levers on the machine.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved tabulator arrangement mounted on the carriage of an office machine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a compact and simplified construction of a control bar for a tabulator arrangement.

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It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simple but effective arrangement for selectively locking and unlocking the control tabs positioned in the slots of the control bar.

The present invention essentially comprises a shaft rotatably mounted on the displaceable carriage located upon the machine frame. A control bar having four side walls arranged to form a tubular member of square cross section is mounted upon the shaft. There are pairs of rows of transverse slots in each of the side walls and control tabs are positioned in certain of these slots so that contact surfaces of the tabs extend above the respective side walls to engage a plurality of function control levers. These control levers are pivotally mounted on a common pivot on the machine frame and are of different lengths so that projections on the ends of the levers are arranged in staggered relationhsip. These control lever projections are contacted by only a single row of control tabs mounted on the control box.

The control bar shaft has oppositely disposed rows of transverse slots on the periphery thereof with these slots being staggered along the length of the bar. These slots cooperate with the control tabs in the control bar to lock and unlock these control tabs in position.

A hand grip wheel is mounted on the control bar shaft and is accessible through openings in the control bar to adjust the shaft to its tab locking and unlocking positions. A disengageable coupling is also provided on the control bar for retaining the shaft in its adjusted position.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon reference to the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an overall perspective view of an ofiice machine incorporating the present tabulator arrangement with the machine being shown in phantom lines and the control bar being removed from its retaining brackets on the carriage of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of a portion of the control bar with a side wall being cut away to show the arrangement of the slots on the control bar shaft and also showing the relationship of the control tabs with the function control levers;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the portion of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the shaft in its unlocking position and also showing the control tab being unlocked or removed in phantom lines;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the control bar with a portion thereof removed to disclose the interior mechanism thereof and the shaft being in its released position for rotation to its locking or unlocking position; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one of the control tabs having an extended contact lug.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views, there is shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 1 a calculating machine 2 having a transversely displaceable carriage 3 provided with a roll 4 for supporting and guiding printed paper forms or the like. These printed forms may comprise strips having numbers or symbols printed thereon in a systematic arrangement under one another in rows and columns. A setting lever, not shown, is provided on the machine to interrupt the movement of the carriage so that the machine may be used as a normal adding or calculating machine. When values are to be entered in successive columns on printed forms, the car riage 3 must be shifted stepwise from one column to another. These successive movements of the carriage may be of different distances depending upon the widths of the columns on the printed forms and on whether the carriage is to skip one or more of the columns.

The control box or bar of the present invention is shown at 5 and is rotatably mounted upon the carriage 3. The control box comprises a plurality of control plates 7 arranged to define a square cross section tubular member mounted upon a shaft 8. This shaft 8 functions both to support the control box and to lock the control tabs in position on the control box in a manner to be presently described. The ends of the shaft 8 extend outwardly beyond both ends of the control box to be received in guide slots 37 and 33 formed in brackets 33 and 34 mounted on the carriage. The shaft ends are retained within the slots by the locking levers 35 and 36 which are pivotally mounted on their respective brackets.

The side walls 7 of the control box 5 are provided with a plurality of spaced transverse slots 9 positioned in two parallel rows at equal intervals. Control tabs 6 are inserted into certain of these slots and locked in position so that their contact surfaces 10 will project above the respective side walls. The control tabs in the bottom side wall of the control box are used in controlling the functions of the machine and are engageable by projections 22 on the function control levers 11, 12, 13 and 14.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 show the control box 5, the control tab 6 and the locking shaft 8 in greater detail. The rows of slots in a side wall 7 of the control box are designated as 15 and 16. As a control tab 6 is inserted into a slot a lateral noselike projection 17 on the tab will extend into a corresponding slot 18 of the adjoining side wall. The outwardly projecting portion of the lower port 19 of the control tab will then be in position to be engaged by the function control levers 11-14. The control tabs normally have a relatively short abutment 21. However certain of the tabs have longer projections 20 with the tabs having the longer projections 20 being positioned in the first row as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. These longer abutments 20 are used only to control the movement of the carriage 3, whereas the remaining control tabs in the other row operate for the tabulation of the machine.

Thus the rear row of control tabs located in slots 16 (see FIGURE 3) cooperates with the projections 22 of the function control levers 11-14. These levers are all positioned under this row of control tabs as may be seen in FIGURE 3. The control levers -11-14 are pivot-ally mounted on a common stud 23 extending from the frame of the machine.

As shown in FIGURE 1, there are two additional pivotally mounted control levers 24 and 25 mounted on a stud 26 and having lower projections 27 and 28. These lower projections cooperate with the function control levers 11-14 in such a manner that by means of the lever 24 coacting with pins 19 and 30 on control levers 13 and 14 these latter levers will be controlled for the function II (which may be totalling) and the function (which may be the subtotaling operation). Control lever 25 coacting with pins 31 and 32 on the function levers 11 and 12 will control these two levers for the function (which may be non-adding) and the substraction function. Both of the control members 24 and 25 are operated in a known manner over suitable linkage by means of the function keys illustrated in FIGURE 1.

The control box 5 of the present invention can be provided with control tabs on all four side walls. However, only those control tabs which are in the bottom side wall and thereby in functional operation with the levers 11-14 are operative. The control tabs on the other side walls can be preset to perform a certain sequence of functions and each of these sequences can be brought into the operative position merely by removing the control box 15 from its mounts on the carriage and repositioning the box. Levers 35 and 36 enable the control box to be released from its brackets and also secure the control box in position upon the brackets.

The shaft 8 of control box 5 is rotatably mounted in the end walls 39 and 40 of the control box. A hand Wheel 41 having a knurled periphery is slidably mounted on shaft 8 for axial movement thereon and is slidably supported on the axially extending guide bars 42 and 43 secured in collar 44 which is afiixed to shaft 8. A coil spring 45 is provided between column 44 and hand wheel 41 to urge the hand wheel 41 away from said collar. Extending inwardly from end wall 40 are stationary bars 46 and 47 which are engageable with guide holes 49-52 on hand wheel 41.

Openings 48 are provided in the side walls of the control box for manipulating the hand wheel. The openings 48 are of sufficient size to permit axial movement of the hand wheel 41. The periphery of the hand wheel 41 is provided with colored indicia 53 and 54 for indicating whether the shaft is in the locking or unlocking position.

Shaft 8 is provided on its periphery with opposed rows of transverse slots 55 which are in staggered relationship as may be seen in FIGURE 2.

When hand wheel 41 is shifted to the right in the direction of arrow 45 the holes 49 and 50 of the hand wheel are disengaged from bars 46 and 47. This unlocks the shaft 8 so that it may be rotated to unlock all of the control tabs which are positioned on the top wall of the control box. The spring 45 then urges hand wheel 41 back to the left so that its openings 51 and 52 are engaged by stationary bars 16 and 47. As a result, all of the control tabs on the remaining three side walls are locked and will be prevented from falling out but the control tabs on the top wall may be removed.

The locking of the control tabs is achieved by rotating shaft 8 through an angle of about 45. As may be seen in FIGURE 3 the cylindrical surface 8a of the shaft 8 contacts abutment surfaces 56 of the control tabs and thus prevents the projection 17 of the control tabs from being withdrawn from the slots 18 into which they are inserted. However, rotation of the shaft 8 to an angle of about 45 as described above and to the position illustrated in FIGURE 4 will align the slots 55 with the control tab abutments 56. The control tabs can then be pivoted to the position indicated by the phantom lines in FIGURE 4 and removed from the control box. It is pointed out however that the control tabs in the remaining side walls of the control box are locked in position since they are engaged by the cylindrical surface 811 of shaft 8.

As described above colored indicia 53 and 54 on hand wheel 41 will indicate whether the control tabs on the top wall of the control box are locked or unlocked. These colored indicia are visible through openings 48.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention provides a compact and simplified control box for mounting on the carriage of an ofiice machine. Further the shaft for supporting the control box functions also to lock the control tabs on three of the four walls of the control box in position so they cannot be removed. The entire arrangement is simple and permits advance programming of the functions to be carried out by the machine by arranging of the control tabs in different patterns on each of the walls of the control box.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an accounting machine having a machine frame, a tabulator arrangement for the selection of a function of the machine and comprising a carriage displaceable upon the machine frame, a shaft on said carriage extending in the direction of travel of said carriage, a control bar with side walls and having a cross-section of a regular polygon rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft passing through said control bar along the length thereof, there being a pair of rows of transverse slots in each of said side walls, control tabs positioned in certain of said slots with each tab having a contact surface projecting above its respective side wall and a portion Within said control bar, a plurality of function control levers pivotally mounted on said machine frame on a common pivot and having projections thereon engageable by said control tab contact surfaces, means on said control bar shaft engageable with the portions of said control tabs within said control bar for locking said control tabs in said control bar, and means on said control bar for adjusting selectively said shaft to tab locking and unlocking positions.

2. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising means on said control bar for retaining said shaft in its adjusted position.

3-. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 with said control bar having four side walls and a square cross section, there being four function control levers with their said projections being positioned sequentially along the longitudinal axis of said control bar.

4. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 with said control tabs in the side walls of the control bar being positioned around the periphery of said shaft and spaced longitudinally along said shaft.

5. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 with said control tab locking means comprising a pair of parallel rows of transverse alternately spaced slots along the periphery of said shaft with portions of said control tabs being receivable in said slots so that the control tabs on only one side wall are unlocked at one time with the remaining control tabs being locked.

6. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 with each control tab having a nose for insertion into an adjoining side wall when said tab is positioned in a slot in a side wall, the edge of said tab opposite from said nose defining an abutment surface engageable with said shaft.

7. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 2 with said shaft adjusting means comprising a hand wheel slidably mounted on said shaft for axial movement thereon, resilient means urging said hand wheel into locking engagement with said shaft position retaining means, axial movement of said hand wheel against the force of said resilient means enabling the rotating of said shaft from one to the other of its locking and unlocking positions.

8. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 7 with there being openings in said control 'bar side walls cooperating with said hand Wheel so that the periphery thereof is visible through said openings, and indicia on the periphery of said hand grip wheel to indicate the locking and unlocking positions of said shaft.

9. In an accounting machine as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising brackets on said carriage having guide slots therein to receive the ends of said shaft to support said control bar on said carriage, and releasable means on said brackets for securing said shaft ends in said bracket slots.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,727,681 12/1955 Bogert 235-.5

STEPHEN J. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner. 

